


Rest and Relaxation

by Pteropoda (SilentP)



Series: Fic Exchanges! [6]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Gen, Gift Exchange, Ratchet Has a Day Off, Secret Solenoid, it does not go well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 07:23:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9425531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentP/pseuds/Pteropoda
Summary: Wheeljack takes Ratchet away from the Medibay to give him some time to relax away from his duties. Nature conspires against them.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [squidzillion](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=squidzillion).



> This is a Secret Solenoid gift for squidzillion! I'm so sorry that this is so late, but I hope that you enjoy it despite the wait! The prompt was for G1 Wheeljack and Ratchet doing anything together.

"Whatever you did, I'm not fixing it."

Ratchet could hear the clatter of Wheeljack coming to a stop in the doorway, but he didn't turn away from his table. He was officially done for the day, barring emergencies. He'd planned to finish cleaning his tools, and leave the Medibay for some long-awaited and well-deserved rest.

"But, Ratchet--" 

Ratchet slammed his rag down on the table with slightly more force than necessary. It didn't quite make the same satisfying clatter that his spanner would have, but he also didn't care if a rag got damaged, and his spanner already had a ding in the handle from the Ark's crash. "What did I say? Fix it yourself! Or if you're that badly off, get Hoist to deal with it, but I won't." 

"Ratchet..." Wheeljack said, wheedling now, but Ratchet cut him off with a shake of his head. "Absolutely not!" He growled. He could feel his irritation creeping into his voice, but he didn't do much to hide it. Wheeljack didn't really mean to get himself injured, and it really did happen less than rumor made out, but sometimes it felt like he chose the worst possible times for Ratchet on purpose. 

Absent-minded, yes, Wheeljack often was that. Usually, if he came in web Ratchet was getting ready to leave, though, he just went to another medic. The insistence this time was enough to make him grit his dentae together. 

"Ratchet, would you just look at me?" 

Wheeljack didn't sound irritated, just bemused, and it was that fact that finally had Ratchet turning away from his tools. 

There were scuffs all along Wheeljack's chestplate and arms, the sure sign of a lab accident, but if there was any damage, it had already been repaired and was hardly visible. Instead, Ratchet's attention was drawn to the two cubes of energon Wheeljack had, one of them held out in  Ratchet's direction. 

"... This is what you were trying to say, isn't it," Ratchet said. There was a sinking feeling in his tank, one only made worse by Wheeljack's silent nod. 

"Well, now I feel like a rusty cog," Ratchet grumbled. He shuffled through his tools, huffing as he heard Wheeljack step further into the room. 

"You kind of were," Wheeljack laughed, his helm fins glowing cheerfully as he did. "But you can make it up to me by helping me finish off these cubes, how does that sound to you?" 

"It sounds like you're finally paying me back for all the times I have put you back together," Ratchet snorted, "so I'll take it." 

He was stopped in the midst of turning back to his tools by Wheeljack's hand on his pauldron. "I know you start snapping when you're tired," Wheeljack said. His fins were glowing a soft, feathery green. One of his soothing colors, and not the usual bright bursts of blue and white that he made when excited about a project. 

Ratchet rubbed a hand over his faceplate, expelling a long sigh of air from his vents. "Then it's a good thing that we're both ready to take a break, isn't it," he said finally. "Just let me finish up with these tools and I'll be ready to join you." 

Wheeljack nodded, and removed his hand from Ratchet's shoulder as he stepped back. "Just let me know what I can do to help," he said. "And let's get out of here before you really do get an injury to deal with." 

With Wheeljack's help, the rest of the cleaning went quickly. “You know this place too well,” Ratchet told him, as Wheeljack put the last of the clamps away.

“In my defense, most of that time hasn’t been spent as a patient.” Wheeljack grabbed the cubes from the table the moment he was done. "Right!" he said, making his way toward the door, then pausing when he realized Ratchet wasn’t following. “Oh, I didn’t tell you the plan, did I? I wanted to go somewhere other than the rec room or your quarters," he explained. "I promise it isn't far!" 

If you're going to insist," Ratchet sighed, but nodded. "All right, let's go." 

"Like I said, it's not far," Wheeljack said. He sounded nearly wheedling, as he lingered in the doorway. "I figured you might like to stop staring at orange for a while."

"Wheeljack," Ratchet said, "I'm already coming with you, I don’t need to be sold on it."

"Oh, right. Heh, sorry about that," Wheeljack said. He shuffled his pedes, sheepishly, his fins lighting up ever so faintly pink. 

Ratchet stepped forward, until he was past the Medibay doorway and next to Wheeljack in the hall, close enough to bump shoulders. "…I’m not ungrateful,” he muttered. ”Blame it on me being a tired old fragger." 

"You're only as old as you feel, Ratchet," Wheeljack said, cheer returning to his voice and color to his fins as he leaned back against Ratchet. The contact only lasted for a moment, before he broke away to start down the hallway.  

"Yeah, and I feel old," Ratchet shot back, but he was grinning and he knew it. "Let's see what you can invent to deal with that." 

"I didn't need to invent it, it's called rest and relaxation,and I've got both!" Wheeljack retorted. He led them to the Ark’s entrance with a spring to himself. Ratchet nodded to the occasional bot they passed, until they were stepping out from the Ark into the bright midday sun.

"So what exactly is your idea here?" Ratchet asked. The area around the Ark was largely barren, filled with rock and dirt and the occasional scraggly plant. It was different from staring at the walls, sure, but not the best venue for a quick cube of energon, or for rest and relaxation. 

"There's an overlook on one of the mountain roads," Wheeljack said. "It's got a pretty good view, and it only takes a few minutes of driving to get to. So, do you think your creaky gears are up for it?" 

Ratchet stared at Wheeljack. Wheeljack stared hopefully back. 

"I'm already out here, so we might as well take a drive,” Ratchet sighed. “But don’t think I don’t see your plan, here. None of those ‘just a little further’s until we’re driving all the way to the top of the mountain, you hear me?”

"I wouldn’t dream of it," Wheeljack said. The cubes of energon were tucked away, and Wheeljack was quick to transform, and off they went. 

Neither of them were best suited to mountain roads. Ratchet's ambulance alt made the twists and turns of the narrow road difficult, and he had to take them slowly. Wheeljack, meanwhile, was low-slung enough that the occasional bump in the road scraped at his undercarriage, making driving with any speed difficult and uncomfortable. Despite that, it didn't actually take long to reach the overlook that Wheeljack had mentioned. 

It wasn't that impressive—just a cliff side with enough empty space large enough that a couple of Autobots could park or sit there if they wanted. The land around it, though… the overlook was perfectly suited to see the Ark down below, and the surrounding panorama of scrublands.

It was, Ratchet could admit, not a bad view, and worth the pestering and the drive. "Not a bad spot," he said, as he transformed. 

"It is!" Wheeljack agreed. "Trailbreaker is the one who told me about it. I've been up here a few times, the sunsets are pretty spectacular from here." 

"I'm sure," Ratchet agreed. There might be some quip to be made about keeping him out until dark, but Ratchet didn't bother with it. He could feel some of his tension and irritation already draining away, just from being out of the Ark. If there was an emergency, he would be close enough to respond quickly, but it was nice not to be surrounded by the same walls, and the same sense of responsibility. If he and Wheeljack ended up staying out here until dusk just talking, then they would. It had been, Ratchet realized, a long time since they'd had a chance to just sit down together. 

When he looked away from the view, Wheeljack was watching him, fins cheerily bright. "Don't you dare say I told you so," he huffed, rolling his shoulders. 

"I told you what?" Wheeljack countered, optics glinting. "I didn't even say anything."

"I know you were thinking about it, I know that look," Ratchet said, shaking his helm. "You still have that energon, don't you? Give it here, I need energy before I deal with your sass." 

"You're one to talk," Wheeljack retorted with a laugh, but he was pulling out the cube anyway. "Here you-- oh, whoops!" Wheeljack held out the cube, but when Ratchet reached out to take it, they both fumbled, sending the cube tumbling. It bounced, the static forcefield containing the energon not bursting but still sending it careening along and over the edge. 

"Well, that just figures!" Wheeljack sighed, his fins rippling with disappointed patterns. "Here, you can take mine," he said. "I can wait for a while." 

"No, let's just get it," Ratchet disagreed, pulling away to walk toward the edge of the cliff. "The incline isn't that steep, it can't have fallen too far."

"You sure about that, Ratch?" Wheeljack asked, but he followed along behind as Ratchet peered over the edge. 

“Yes, I am. See? There it is.” The cube hadn’t rolled far, just as he’d predicted. A smaller ledge not far below the dropoff had caught it, where it rested now, leaning against a rock. Ratchet reached down for it, but a sudden burst of movement along the scraggly trees lining the ledge had him jerking back in alarm.

He nearly stumbled back into Wheeljack, who caught him with some alarm. “Ratchet?”

Ratchet just shook his helm, staring down toward the cube. The creature that perched on top of it wasn’t the cassette that he’d feared. It was far too small, and feathered all over in black as it stared up at him with beady little eyes. “I’m fine, I’m fine. One of the local lifeforms startled me, is all.”

“A local lifeform?” Wheeljack asked. He came up alongside Ratchet, to peer down toward the cube, and the animal now accompanying it. “Oh! A raven,” he noted. “I guess it was perching there. Dropping the cube must have startled it.”

“I’m sure. Now… shoo,” Ratchet muttered, waving a hand at the bird.

If anything, the thing looked even more offended, but it did start to leap into the air. Ratchet began to reach for the cube again, only to stop when the bird let out a harsh sound and dove toward his hand.

“What is it doing?” Wheeljack asked, leaning forward to peer over Ratchet’s shoulder.

“ _I_ don’t know,” Ratchet said. The bird wasn’t getting any less agitated. It kept making those sounds, and kept diving at his arm, as though it could do any damage to him with its tiny body. “If it’s trying to attack me, it’s doing a terrible job of it.”

“Since it’s distracted by you, maybe I can…Ack!” Wheeljack edged around Ratchet as he continued to try and wave off the bird. He knelt at the edge of the cliff, and started to reach for the cube, when the creature gave a truly impressive caw and abandoned Ratchet in favor of flying straight for his optics.

Wheeljack threw up an arm to cover his faceplate, but the bird only diverted far enough not to hit his arm before circling back again. “This thing really is determined!” Wheeljack said, watching it fly around him, his fins flashing with curiosity.

The flashing lights seemed to drive the creature into an even greater frenzy, as it began to fly so close that its wings were beating at Wheeljack’s helm, and every attempt to wave it off was foiled as the animal looped around to keep harassing him.

“Clearly it’s not going away,” Ratchet observed, reaching out for Wheeljack. “Come on, Wheeljack, leave the cube alone. We can go back to the Ark—“

“Ratch, hold on, I’m gonna—“

Wheeljack didn’t get to finish that sentence. Ratchet heard the skidding of metal and rocks, and an alarmed sound from Wheeljack as his arm tugged in Ratchet’s hand, and then the ground disappeared from under his pedes. His back impacted on something, and he flailed, until everything suddenly came to a halt again.

Ratchet wheezed and felt dirt puffing out of his vents as he stared up at the sea of blue around him. Above him, he realized. He was on his back, limbs splayed, half-sitting against the cliffside.

He was still holding onto something, that shifted in his grip. It took a moment to realize that it was Wheeljack’s arm. “Oof,” the engineer groaned. Then, a moment later; “I’m okay, I just fell… Ratch?”

“I’m fine,” Ratchet said. He let go of Wheeljack, then started to push himself upright.

“I slipped,” Wheeljack said. He too was beginning to pick himself up, and looking around the ledge where they’d tumbled to a stop. He was only barely sitting when there was a shriek from above, and the bird above them, as it dive-bombed them both once more.

Ratchet groaned, and let his helm slip into one dusty hand. "Wheeljack?"

"Yeah?"

Don't ever try and make me take a break again." 

"...Sounds fair." 


End file.
